went to xen last night to practice.
was about to go home, when i realised that i had a missed call from kai ting.
so i called him back.
him: agnes! come to zouk now!
me: really loh. mia zai ai zo gang leh (tmr need to work)
him: come la. so many of us are here now
me: u really not last min loh.
him: sorry la. but u should really come. so many ppl are here!
me: who?
him: me, dexter, michelle, xian jie, chin tah, kenneth, jia hui, gladys, ee mae...
me: ... u all are mad. *pause* ee mae is going?! *realisation* ok i'm going.

and this is the story of how i got conned into going to zouk at 1145 pm last night.
after salsa, with no prior warning whatsoever.
the first time i've ever been to a mambo night, first time i've clubbed without make up and without heels.
i was dressed in whatever i was wearing in the lab that day. ie sensible clothing and sneakers.
whee.
felt a bit strange clubbing in jeans and sneakers. no skirt :(
but after a while i was glad i wasn't wearing heels.
for one it was incredibly crowded.
dancing was rather impossible.
not that i was that inspired to dance.
mambo music reminds me of cheese.
in fact, they played 2 cheese songs that are quite popular in cam.
and since most of us there were from cam, we were like "this is like back in england!"

gladys and i couldn't take more than 3 mambo songs at once. (hazardous to health, that)
so we left for phuture.
but it was so unbelievably crowded, i didn't feel like dancing even though the music was not bad.
not that i could dance, really.
had about enough space to nod my head.
not v fun.

so we headed back to zouk after a while.
back to the mambo floor where i just stood there and watched the ppl on the podium.
very entertaining, that.
and then soon it was 2 am and since all of us had to go to work the next day, we went home.

the end.

overall it wasn't that bad a night.
the music was terrible (to me la) but the company was good. was nice seeing all the camb ppl again :)
and thus according to my 70% company 30% music theory, the night was on the good side so the time was well spent.
don't think i'll be heading back there on a wed night anytime soon though :S

WOMAD- world of music and dance, has been held in singapore for the past few years.
i've always wanted to go, but i never had the chance.
so when it arrived in s'pore again last weekend, i jumped at the opportunity to go.
and it so happened that enlin called me up to ask me if i wanted to go for it.
of course i did! great minds think alike :)
i asked a few other ppl as well, but all of them said "whats WOMAD?" and "not my kind of thing"
i wasn't surprised.
not many ppl can appreciate such music- puerto rican, african, korean, jamaican to name a few.
haiz.
70% of the ppl there that night were caucasians.
it was crowded enough to allow us to feel the energy and enthusiasm but not so crowded that it was unbearable- getting a good view was easy.

the event was held at fort canning park.
in accordance with the whole festival theme, there were stalls all over the place selling exotic knick knacks and food.
the food stalls reminded me of may balls cos the tents were so similar and were illuminated by the same coloured lights that gave the whole place a mysterious and beautiful glow.

we walked around the place to locate all 3 stages.
watched the perfomance at the main stage for a while before heading over to a smaller stage for the band i was really looking forward to- Radio Mundial!

-a puerto rican band that plays a fusion of funk, soul, reggae and rock with a healthy dose of carribean and latin rhythms.
fantastic stuff :)

we stood right in front of the stage and danced along with the crowd.
quite a few afro-cuban songs- perfect for the shines i learnt at xen.

Headed to the main stage for the finale after the all too short hour-long performance by radio mundial.
the finale featured most of the acts that performed at the festival, so we had a sample of almost everything.

i loved the fact that each group performed on its own first, then the the next act will join in seamlessly, with the previous act either fading out or playing a supportive role.
this allowed almost 8 different groups from around the world to blend their music together beautifully.
the photo above shows korean and african drummers as well as an aborigine artiste.

i had a fantastic time :)
will definitely go again next year.

went to union sq last night.
quite an exciting night.
not as fun as the previous time cos it was more crowded and i dind't have as many good dances overall.
there were ups and downs.
a definite up was when i danced with this jap guy who was quite good. complex variations that were well-led most of the time, coupled with this suave jap attitude. nice~
he was there with a bunch of jap ppl.
i danced with another jap guy, abt intermediate level with a v light lead. an ok dance, that.

then a down was when i danced with this guy who did cuban salsa.
watching de brito at the brit salsa fest and going to yq's afro-cuban class made me fall in love with the afro-cuban style.
but.
that guy i danced with just crushed that love i had for the style, albiet, and fortunately, momentarily.
he was bouncing around when he danced, for one.
and that annoyed me. a lot.
and i couldn't follow his basic step, which was strange.
and he led strange CBLs. which weren't supposed to be there since he did cuban.
so overall it was a very painful dance.
to be fair he is a good dancer with a nice style and posture but i just couldn't follow his lead cos i had no idea what he was doing.

so i was looking forward to the next dance with a proper LA salsa dancer.
and i was approached by yet another very obviously jap guy.
so i agreed to dance with him.
his lead was not bad.
but he liked the whole basic step in a circle thing which i detest cos its so unglam.
at least he did proper LA.
although he only led basic step, simple turn and CBL.
for an entire song.
i was quite sad after that.
first a blah cuban dancer and then a beginner :(
so once that song was over i had to ask a confirmed good LA dancer to dance with me.
or else my night would have been ruined man.

then this guy asked me to dance.
i agreed.
and he said "i'm a beginner only. can?"
then i was like "er.. ok"
thinking "OH NO"
but then
it turned out that he wasn't a beginner la
more of an intermediate level
so not that bad.
and then when i was dancing with him this ang moh guy was watching.
and after the dance i thanked the guy, walked away, and somehow caught the eye of the ang moh guy.
so he said "dance?"
of course i agreed.
then he said "i like your attitude when u dance"
whee :)
then the music started.
and it was merengue!
we were both were like "oh no!"
but still danced anw.
and his merengue was really good.
very fun cos he interpreted the music well.
so we did more than just the basic merengue step- there were variations, lots of shines and styling and even a dip.
so it was definitely an up for the night.
whee~



and now.
for the ultimate down.
i was sitting down and resting.
then this guy asked me to dance.
so i agreed.
he was of a beginner-intermediate level.
the thing that erked me was the fact that he didn't know how to take care of me at all.
all the other dancers i danced with that night knew how to shield me from the neighbouring dancers or to make sure that i didn't spin too far away and crash.
this guy didn't.
he just did watever variations he knew and didn't care that i spun off sometimes and would almost crash into other ppl. so i would spin and stop suddenly to avoid crashing.
that was not good.

and then suddenly this lady dancing behind us kicked my calf with her heel.
it was incredibly painful, so i buckled.
but i must have been incredibly good at my recovery because the guy i was dancing with didn't even realise that i had been kicked.
i was beyond pissed off.
i didn't even care who kicked me.
the fact was that that stoopid guy didn't even realise that i was injured and continued dancing la.

and now i have this big bruise on my calf.
it hurts.
:(

went for UKbound last night.
was with the camb ppl.
the camb group was like how big la.
abt 20 of us went.
whee.
to zhuang: u went to the wrong sch la- cambridge is where its at :)
ahemoxfordahem is just not happening enough.
mwhaha.

met amanda there!
haven't seen her in ages.
she brought her bf and her camera.
so we got a photo!
yay :)

also met some lse ppl, chai yee and nat.
haven't seen them in over a year.
met ali there too!
who informed me that hy didn't want to go. boo.
but most amazing of all i met some 76 ppl.
was on the way to the toilet when i walked past this guy who looked vaugely familiar.
on closer inspection i realised it was teng soon! who was with hian and weili.
was rather surprised to see them.

the music was quite good.
so i was quite happy.
rnb with a substantial dose of reggaeton.
whee~
not many ppl can appreciate reggaeton.
pity.
its so nice to dance to!
the dj repeated a few songs though.

went for supper with some of the camb ppl before heading home.
supper conversation included "how do you define success?", the merits of hokkien and how we were all going to go to work half asleep and hung over the next day.

fortunately i wasn't hungover.
and work today wasn't that bad.
in fact it was incredibly slack.
i could have done all that i was assigned to do in 2 hours flat.
but my supervisor had to dish out my work one by one with long intervals in between.
which was why i still left at 5 pm in the end.
bleh.
just glad the weekend is here.
whee!

i learnt sth new today.
there is this receptor protein called Sevenless, found in Drosophila cells.
the ligand that binds to it is called Bride of Sevenless.
binding of the ligand activates downstream proteins amongst which is the Son of Sevenless, which then goes on to activate the MAPK pathway.

these proteins have fabulous names.
next time if i discover a protein i'm going to name it salsa.
then the proteins it binds to will be called bachata and merengue.
whee.

If God has been testing me, then i don't think i've been doing very well.
3 similar tests, each easier than the previous one.
and yet i just can't pass them.
why is it so difficult Lord.
how long more?
help me to learn what You are trying to teach me.
i know You are the potter, and i am the clay.
the moulding process will be uncomfortable, painful.
yet i know
In all things God works for the good of those who love Him
Romans 8:28

did the ECL today and whee!
the proteins were alright. at least i think they were cos there were bands in the correct place.
and the results were really good cos now we can narrow down the region where the proteins bind. that is if the results are accurate.
so i'm gonna have to repeat the expt.
just glad that the IPs turned out alright.
whew.

did 20 minipreps followed by 20 digests and none of them had the insert.
argh.
neither did the 20 i did on friday!
and then my supervisor concluded that the dNTPs she used were screwed up.
it took more than 4 weeks for her to come to that conclusion.
bah.

the latest expt i'm doing is just screwed up.
i keep messing it up.
(brenda are u reading this! will remind u of the lab a lot hehe)

first was the transfection on thurs.
everything went well until i swirled the plates to mix the dna and media.
i think i was too enthusiastic so some media spilled out.
so i had to suction the excess out.
but my supervisor said "chances of contamination are v high"
sigh
and then on friday and checked on the cells.
they were unhappy but not contaminated.
so i harvested the cells and extracted the proteins.
spent almost the whole day doing the IP.
until the v last step.
then i left the lab.

returned this morning to run the gel.
i had 24 samples to run.
went to the freezer, took out my box of samples, and lo and behold, there were only 12.
*panic*
checked my other box of samples.
not there.
thought back to the last step of the IP.
"centrifuge for 1 min at max speed"
so i checked the centrifuge.
and my samples were in there.
IP samples, no less.
left there at room temp over the weekend.
*argh*
they were supposed to be stored at -20 degC!
told my supervisor, who decided that i should run the gel anw.
argh.
all my proteins are probably in bits and pieces now.
boo.

and then when i was loading the gel someone came and talked to me and i loaded the same sample twice.
fortunately there were extra wells.
the transfer went ok, so did the steps after that.
hope i don't screw up the rest of the expt tmr.
:(



oh yes.
danced with this guy at union on fri.
he asked me "are u a lawyer?"
...
i was like "er. no?"
"then what do u do?"
so i said "i'm a scientist!"
he said "huh! can't be la. really meh?"
with this look of utter disbelief.
excuse me.
i'm like so scientist-y loh.
goodness.

got to know the son of an ambassador to guatemala.
born in argentina and raised in 4 different countries.
i asked him "where's home?"
he said "i don't know. i don't have a home."
i felt quite sorry for him.
i can't imagine not having a place to call home, a place where i know i'll belong.
where all my friends and relatives are.


went to union sq for the first time since i came back.
met this malay guy who used to dance at xen.
i thought i would never see him again.
but i did! when i was dancing with this other guy the malay guy walked in and i was stunned.
after dancing with him he said "ur following used to be better"
i was like okay...
ah well.
floor was really sticky.
spinning was impossible.
so my knee hurts.
boo.

yay
i've recovered.
happy :)
thanks for all the well-wishes everyone!
will change the tag board soon.
the spam is ridiculous.


quick update.
went to hard rock cafe on thurs for a salsa social.
was great fun.
had a few very fun dances which i really enjoyed.
had a few not so nice dances which just didn't work out cos there was zero chemistry between me and the guy. so those dances weren't fun at all- more like an exercise in following the guy's lead.

friday.
last bible study for the 40 day Purpose-driven Life study that my church has embarked on.
the past few friday nights have been spent at each other's houses discussing what the pastor taught, sharing, eating and getting to know our purpose in life.
i enjoyed it tremendously.
thanks for the fellowship :)

saturday.
fresher's tea party.
there are so many freshers this year!!
amazing.
got to meet some of my "children" as assigned by cumsa.
i signed up for 1 child.
i got assigned 5.
i'm like so fertile.
my children are really sweet ppl so i'm happy. have yet to meet one of them though.
went for dinner with some of the nat scis and some other ppl.
was nice just catching up with everyone :)

then met some other ppl at clarke quay for drinks.
was supposed to be drinks at brewerks.
then they decided to migrate to cafe iguana, but it was too packed.
so we went to Indochine, which was really nice. i love the ambience.
would have loved to stay there a bit longer but the guys decided that it was time to move on cos we were going on a pub crawl.
...
so we went to Asylum for a next round of drinks which i obviously refused.
can't help that i'm female and asian and therefore have v little alcohol dehydrogenase.
too bad.
went to the toilet (alcohol is a diuretic) and who did i meet there but jac!
who was rather high.
haven't seen her in a year! she looks the same, only a bit high on alcohol.
and we ended the night at MOS.
it was ridiculous.
paid so much to go in there for like 2 hours.
it was so really crowded that we attempted to go into the r&b room twice but failed.
so we had to be content with the house music on the main floor.
not that bad la.
discovered this morning that je was at MOS too- and in the r&b room! hardly surprising that we didn't meet considering how insanely crowded that place was.

sunday.
had a good talk with xinyi after service cos we both had some time to kill.
was really nice sharing with her- it made me realise how long it was since we last chatted properly- and how blessed i am to have such a good friend who will listen to all my rubbish.
thanks for the advice babe :)

had an ultra belated birthday dinner treat today.
complete with a slice of cake by the singapore river.
it was great catching up- reminded me of how incredibly similar we are and how easily we empathise with each other.
thanks for the lovely evening.


and therefore, in short, i haven't been sleeping much.
need to work tmr.
boohoo.
don't get me wrong
i love my job.
its fun- i enjoy what i'm doing.
tuesday will be exciting cos the results of my experiment will come out in the evening if all goes well tmr.
my only gripe is that i need to wake up so early to go to work.
boohoo.

enlin said that xiaoen's blog is dead and mine is unconcious.
so i decided to revive it.

went back to work last thurs even though i was still ill.
and my supervisor informed me that the cells were not contaminated.
whee :)
the fume hood is truly fantastic.

the medicine the doctor gave me made me drowsy.
its a terrible feeling.
had to harvest cells while half asleep.
bleh.



ah. and to a dear friend again:
welcome back veek.
i'm so happy for you :)
work your ass off! :p



some time ago enlin introduced this song to me- Jesus Take The Wheel by carrie underwood.
the chorus kept playing in my head the whole of today.

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

i'm ill.
boohoo.
the body has finally succumbed to the constant attack by viruses produced by my fellow lab mates who are also ill.
lousy immune system :(
boo :(


quick photo update!

dinner with veek and the a.* gang. part of it.


me and the veek.
us! minus vikas who left early.


and then on sunday there was the salsa party at chijmes.
most disappointing for me cos i only got to dance with 4 non- xen ppl.
feel so shi1 bai4.
boo.
not to say that the xen ppl aren't nice to dance with la.
u guys rock :)
finally danced with justin.
*stress*
he was like "relax!"
i was like "ahh!! wats going on!"

well well

and then on sat night i met up with the 4a3 babes.
yay!!
i know i owe u all photos.
sorry!
2 group photos first:

wendy, me, dawn, aud, nette

same bunch of ppl plus lihao and debbie. we were trying to take this group photo on our own, but some guy walked past and volunteered to take it for us. so there we go.

and so i've been sleeping less than 6 hours a day for the past.... 3 weeks.
ie ever since i started working.
no wonder the body is protesting.

being ill while working in a lab is not fun.
esp a bio lab.
especially in the tissue culture room, where everything has to be absolutely sterile.
my nose was running like mad and i was sniffing away while transferring cells around.
hope they aren't contaminated.
haiz.